Thursday, February 03, 2005

BU** SH**

Because one of the main sources of our national unity is our belief in equal justice, we need to make sure Americans of all races and backgrounds have confidence in the system that provides justice.

In America we must make doubly sure no person is held to account for a crime he or she did not commit. So we are dramatically expanding the use of DNA evidence to prevent wrongful conviction.

Soon I will send to Congress a proposal to fund special training for defense counsel in capital cases, because people on trial for their lives must have competent lawyers by their side.

As Governor of Texas, George W. Bush oversaw 152 executions while governor, more than any other governor in the history of the United States.

Bush has expressed his belief that all those executed were guilty, based on "execution summary" memos prepared by Alberto R. Gonzales, even though those memos failed to mention critical mitigating factors, such as the fact that a condemned man's public defender slept through much of his case.

And in the case of Terry Washington, "a brain-damaged and retarded man, Gonzales never informed Bush that Washington's incompetent attorney never called a mental health expert to testify, never advised the jury that his client was retarded or that he had an IQ between 58 and 69 and had been beaten with whips, water hoses, extensions cords, fan belts and wire hangers as a child."

In addition to refusing to intervene on behalf of any of the condemned, Bush mocked and mimicked Karla Faye Tucker's appeals for clemency in an interview with Tucker Carlson for Talk Magazine.

So, if you think -- even for a minute -- that the President gives half-a-damn about wrongful convictions or justice, I have just two words for you: BU** SH**.